I'm a bit confused about the alpha/beta process. Initially, I thought I would get access for having backed the product but after doing a bit of reading, I found out that my $18 pledge did not get me early access. Despite my eager anticipation, I resigned myself to the fact that I would just have to wait longer!

Today, however, I noticed that Grim Dawn has an Early Access release on Steam. Hopefully this will help generate even more support for the game. What I'm wondering though, is whether that means that the rest of us early backers can now join in on the fun?

I've tried requesting my steam key, as noted at the top of this post, but it doesn't seem to be coming in. I did receive and email but it redirected me to the Humble Bundle store and only displays by digital release key. Are Steam keys still restricted to the higher tier pledges? I'm not looking to stir up any problems, but it seems unfair to me that new players can now pay to get access to the game but those of us who pledged several months ago, albeit for a slightly lower sum than the Steam Early Access, wouldn't get access.

I'm afraid it is still early access and only open to people who have contributed at the higher tiers. Though some seem to view it differently, we had just thought of Steam Early Access as an expansion of the Early Access already available to the public on our website. The price was reduced for Steam to account for the lack of any in-game items or soundtrack, even with the 10% release week sale, it is still 50% more than the $18 bottom tier KS pledge for final release.

That said, due to delays in development, we are planning to give all KS backers access to the game before release. We're just trying to pace it out so that everyone gets their fair time at each access level. I think we'll probably do that in Jan.

Yes! An official quote I can now refer to and thus stop typing the same thing over and over

Thanks for the confirmation.

Btw whoever posted the response to this on the Steam forums is getting quite popular and has become a reason as to why people are buying the game (which I found to be amusing).

__________________Shadows of darkness Ever watching without sight Linger in silence
Screams of dying breath Of all hope forever lost Dismay Fear then Death
Darkness now sated Without hunger they will wait Mercy unheard of

I'm afraid it is still early access and only open to people who have contributed at the higher tiers. Though some seem to view it differently, we had just thought of Steam Early Access as an expansion of the Early Access already available to the public on our website. The price was reduced for Steam to account for the lack of any in-game items or soundtrack, even with the 10% release week sale, it is still 50% more than the $18 bottom tier KS pledge for final release.

That said, due to delays in development, we are planning to give all KS backers access to the game before release. We're just trying to pace it out so that everyone gets their fair time at each access level. I think we'll probably do that in Jan.

Hi Medierra,

Thanks for the response. I appreciate you taking the time to address my concerns. I had not considered that these early access backers would be paying over 50% more, that is a good way to put it. I looked at it more from the perspective that my money has been in Crate's hands for over 6 months. In any event, this is a business decision made by Crate and I am not in a position to judge its soundness. If the result is more money going towards the final product, I'm happy.

I am glad to hear that the rest of us might get a chance to hop in on the beta. I am all for that plan!

Congrats on being on the steam front page. While this is undoubtedly huge news for the game, it's also extremely frustrating for those of us who pledged for the game well over a year ago, regardless of level, to see people pay a little more now and be able to play before us. If you could at least give us a backer update about this decision, it would save people like me a lot of trouble of trying to figure out why the humble bundle was not giving us a steam key to play a game that truly excites us and that we've already paid for.

Congrats on being on the steam front page. While this is undoubtedly huge news for the game, it's also extremely frustrating for those of us who pledged for the game well over a year ago, regardless of level, to see people pay a little more now and be able to play before us. If you could at least give us a backer update about this decision, it would save people like me a lot of trouble of trying to figure out why the humble bundle was not giving us a steam key to play a game that truly excites us and that we've already paid for.

18$ tiered backers will be getting early access sometime when Act 2 is released in January.

So just be a bit more patient as your time will come to jump into Grim Dawn and have far more content then what is available right now.

__________________Shadows of darkness Ever watching without sight Linger in silence
Screams of dying breath Of all hope forever lost Dismay Fear then Death
Darkness now sated Without hunger they will wait Mercy unheard of